ham, cheese and hashbrown breakfast casserole

I guess the to-die-for and very decadent Sunday breakfast has to be to be an English fry up: a plate of sausage, ham, eggs, with perhaps some sauteed garlic mushrooms, a tomato roasted with some cheese, toast, and maybe even black pudding, if you are so inclined.

Apart from being super unhealthy (I could feel blood clots forming even as I typed that), I really detest smelling like a kitchen at 9 on a Sunday morning.

Having said that. this does not mean plain old toast for breakfast either.

So in the end, I compromised. I made a breakfast casserole.

It is such a clever idea. You get a great tasting breakfast, filled with some of your favourite bits from a fry up, but since everything can be prepped ahead (I made mine the day before), and then finished off in an oven, you get to enjoy a delicious breakfast without feeling any hassle, and certainly without having the entire kitchen and yourself smelling of grease.

Today I share with you a recipe for a ham, cheese and hashbrown casserole.

To make the casserole, I started by greasing a 9×13 inch casserole or oven-proof dish with some butter. I was feeding about 8, so please feel free to halve the recipe if you have a smaller army to feed!

Onto the dish, I placed a single layer of frozen hashbrowns.

Then I chopped ham and added that onto the hash-browns.

A layer of cheese went onto the ham. I used frozen shredded cheddar, but any other cheese will also work.

In a mixing bowl, I whisked together eggs, milk, salt and ground mustard.

This was then poured over the cheese.

At this stage, I covered the dish with cling film, and stuck it back into the fridge.

An hour or so before I wanted to serve breakfast, I covered the casserole with aluminium foil and placed it into a pre-heated oven to cook for about 45 minutes. The foil was then removed and the casserole was allowed to continue cooking until the top had turned a lovely golden brown.

All that was left was to cut the casserole and eat!

I think breakfast casseroles are going to be a Sunday regular from now. 🙂

RECIPEHam, Cheese and Hashbrown (Serves 8)Adapted from recipe by momswhothink.com

Method:1. Place hash browns in a single layer in a greased 9X13 baking dish.2. Sprinkle with cheese and ham.3. In a bowl, beat eggs, milk, salt and mustard. Pour over cheese.4. Cover and bake at 180C for 1 hour.5. Uncover; bake 15 minutes longer or until edges are golden brown and knife inserted near the center comes out clean.